3 Talking Points for Facebook’s E-Money Endeavor

Like most people, I like making purchases over the Internet. More specifically, I am partial to PayPal as my means of distributing money because I always found it to be reliable. Yes, it may have its problems – especially during those particular transactions gone wrong – but it remains the most notable e-commerce platform nonetheless. It is so notable, in fact, that it seems like Facebook is inching closer to taking a piece of the figurative pie.

Recently, Facebook made the announcement that it would be launching its new e-money transfer service in Europe; Facebook has declined to state if it would be released internationally as well. In any event, this would allow Facebook to become a platform which users could apply in order to either store money – not unlike a digital bank – or make purchases. If Facebook sees approval in Ireland, where its European base is located, the social media mogul will have the green light to put this service into effect.

With that said, there are a number of talking points and here are 3 possible ones that could come up.

1. Progression

To say that this is a surprising move on the part of Facebook would be something of a fabrication. From the company’s acquisition of Oculus VR last month to its cutbacks in free organic reach for businesses, it’s clear that Facebook – for better or worse – practically changes on a dime. As a result, it’s not out of the ordinary to learn that it would attempt to bring a PayPal-like service into effect, too. No company is able to thrive if it is content with staying the course. Eventually, different approaches have to be taken, especially when it comes to a field that sees changes on a rapid basis like social media. It is up to the company in question, though, to make sure that the changes in question are ones that can prove beneficial in the future.

2. Security

One of the problems that this could pose is concern, as far as security is concerned. Let’s say that Facebook was approved for this e-money service; by proxy it would be in contention with services like Amazon, which contain credit card information for most – if not all – of its users. The reason why customers are comfortable with saving this type of information, though, is that these sites have built good stock over the course of time. Not only has Amazon proven itself but the same can be said for Apple and eBay as well. For the most part, they have been secure. Facebook, on the other hand, would be in its e-money infancy and any online marketing firm can attest to the fact that very few people want to be the proverbial guinea pig. Facebook has to make certain that it addresses this subject as soon as possible.

3. Demand

Someone who isn’t familiar with Facebook and only recognizes it as a big name might look at this story and wonder, “Who asked for this?” It’s easy to see why, especially when there are entities like PayPal, as mentioned before, which are able to serve their purpose well. They might look at Facebook’s foray into the e-money field as an interesting experiment, at best, but not one to commit to. If this is the case, what could Facebook do in order to generate more interest? Perhaps it would be wise on the part of Facebook to offer incentives for early adopters, such as a few dollars’ worth of credit or even a mention in a future press release. Either way, this service has to become more than simply, “PayPal: Facebook Edition,” which means that it has to deviate from the proverbial pack.

Join The Conversation

Rob i have worked in many projects in the e-money space and e-wallets or similar concepts. It’s all about supply and demand. if you can host great products, from decent distributors than you are on to something.

The only thing Facebook has for itself are the numbers in users, but recent drops on pages views (organic let’s call it) are not a promising predicament for marketers, ecommerce is much more aggressive than you may think.

I agree that a different route could - and should - have been taken. After all, e-money commerce is a field that Facebook has little experience in and I think your concept about Pinterest could have been the start of something special. Now I have to wonder what will happen if this is approved and, more importantly, reaches a worldwide status. Will Facebook users take to it? Will they see it as, at the very least, an experiment? I guess we'll see as the progression of this system unfolds.

FaceBook is Making huge mistake in announcing such Platform, your articles only touch the Pick of the Iceberg on what needs to be done to get a merketplace like amazon going.

They should have taken a very different route and strating on something Pinterest catalogs for products and whislist. To create a know how. Google and Yahoo both have failed in these attempts and rightfully so, since is not the money channel what makes an e-wallet succesfull, but rather the product diversity and wholeness of the operation.